The government contended that the Renewed Tuition Bursary was fairer because it allowed students of both public and private post-secondary institutions to receive the financial assistance.

[4] In June 2022, the Department confirmed that it was cancelling the New Brunswick – Employment Insurance (NB-EI) Connect Program, which had allowed thousands of students to receive EI while pursuing post-secondary studies.

News of the program's cancellation was first leaked by Jean-Sebastian Leger, then president of the Fédération étudiante du Centre universitaire de Moncton, after the Department had sent an email to student unions advising of the change, but saying that there would be no public announcement thereof.

The liberal opposition's reaction was that, while they did not call for the Program to be reinstated, they believed that the Government should be doing more to support post-secondary students and ensure the affordability and accessibility of higher education.

[7] Stephen Drost, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in New Brunswick, said, "This is nothing more than stripping away the rights of these workers to have free collective bargaining.

"[9] Holder responded in the Legislature that the Bill was simply an effort to bring "clarity" to rules surrounding essential workers, which he said the Labour and Employment Board has described as ambiguous.